Improvement in wagon-brakes



A. LBARTLETT,

WAeon-BRAKE. I

No.170,ZZO Patented Nov. 23,1875.

N. PETERS. PHQTO-LITNOGRAFHER, WASHINGTON 0 C.

UN STATES PAENT IMPROVEMENT IN WAGON-BRAKES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 170,220, dated November23,1875 application filed 4 July 15, 1875.

' To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, A. LA FAYETTE BART- LETT, of Brownsville, in thecounty of Paulding and State of Georgia, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Wagon- Brakes, of which the following is a specification:

My improved brake is adapted for automatically applying the brakingpower by means of a sliding tongue-bar connected to the tongue-chain orbreast-tree, and operating the brake-bar by means of jointed leverswhenever the tonguebar is forced backward by the pull-back of the horsesin descending a grade, and in proportion to the force exerted by thepull-back. The draft of the horses upon the double-tree instantlyreleases the brakes by drawing the tongue-bar forward. The doubletree iscarried by the draft-bar, and moves back andforth with the latter within.a draftguide iron secured to the tongue, and which serves as the fixedpoint of draft instead of the usual bolt passing through the tongue. Thebrake is applied to the rear side of the front wheels, whereby I obtaina quicker and more effective action in applying and releasing the brake,and as the braking devices are carried wholly by the tongue, the frontaxle, and the hounds, the turning and guiding of the wagon is not somuch interfered with as when the brake is arranged to act upon the rearwheels. v

The accompanying drawings represent a top view of my improved brake asapplied .to the tongue, the hounds, and the front wheels of therunning-gear of a wagon, the dotted lines showing the position of theparts when the brake is applied.

A draft-bar, g, is arranged on the under side of the tongue 0, insuitable guides h h, and the brake-bar a is arranged to bring its shoes(7-. d to bear upon the rear side of the front wheels b, while thebrake-bar a is jointed to the rear end of the draft-rod gby long andshort lovers 8 s and u u, forming a sort of toggle-joint connection, theshort levers u a being jointed to the brake-bar, and the long levers tothe end of the draft-bar, and pivoted to stay-arms t, pivoted to andprojecting from the rear side of the axle, to allow the levers to flexin applying and releasing the brake. A collar, 1, on the front end ofthedraft-bar embraces loosely the front end of the tongue, and to thisthe tonguechain 6, or breast-tree, is attached, so that the back pull ofthe horses will thrust the draftbar back, and, straightening the leverss 8, apply the brake. draft-bar 9 extends back of the front axle, and

For this purpose the passes through a guide either above or below it.The brake-bar a is arranged to act beneath the hounds, being heldthereto by guideirons on the under side of said bar, which allow saidbar to have the proper movement toward and from the wheels. To keep thebrake-bar from moving endwise it is secured by an eye, q, to a rod, (1fixed to the bounds, and over which the eye moves with the bar.guide-connections may be at both sides of the hounds, so that thebrake-shoes d at will always be opposite the wheels. The double-tree kis not connected to the tongue by a bolt, as usual, but to the draft-barg by a branch arm, m, overlying the tongue at its junction with thehounds B, and to which arm m the doubletree is secured by a bolt, sothat it moves back and forth with the draft-bar in applying the brake.In this movement of the double-tree it is confined by a guide-iron, n n,secured to the hounds and the tongue, and with the doubletree between itand the arm m, so that the double-tree draws against the guide-iron n,

and is held in proper relation therewith by a pin, 0, which projectsthrough a slot, Z, in the guide-iron, and serves as a brace to hold thedouble-tree in place, and against end movement as it is moved back andforth by the action of the draft-bar. By this means the double-tree iscarried back in applying the brake, and brought forward to pull againstthe angle-iron when the brake is off. In descending 'a grade the horsespull back upon the breastrrroa These forward movement of the horses,which, by means of the double-tree, draws the tongue-bar forward uponthe tongue, and, by means of the levers, carries the brake-bar away fromthe wheels. Chains 2 may be used to connect the ends of the doubletreewith the front axle; but the guide-draft iron is sufficient for thepurpose, and avoids having a hole in the tongue and double-tree, as thelatter is held in place and draws against the front end of theguide-iron, which is firmly secured to the tongue and the hounds.

I am aware that a tongue-bar has been used in connection with pivotedlevers, operated by the back thrustof the tongue-bar by its connectionwith-the neck-yoke, whereby the brake is applied automatically to therear side of the front wheels by the pull-back of the team in ascendinga hill; the features of improvement. however, which I havemade will bespecifically set forth in the claim.

1. The combination, with the tongue-bar g and the brake a d, of thedouble-tree 7c, connected with said ton gue-bar by the branch arm m,whereby the draft upon the doubletree operates to release the brake,substantially as herein set fort-h.

2. The combination, with the tongue-bar g, having a branch arm, m, andthe double-tree 70, connected therewith, of a guide and pulliron, n,fixed to the tongue, Whereby'the double-tree is allowed to move back inapplying a A. LA FAYETTE BARTLETT.

Witnesses:

J. MEIGS HUNT, E. K. RAGSDALE.

